Australian foreign policy

Australia's place in the world

The ‘Indo-Pacific’ — the region comprising the Indian and Pacific Oceans and connecting seas, has become a strong theme of Australian foreign policy in recent years, and a new question this year sought to probe Australians’ understanding of this concept. Respondents were presented with a list of five options — ‘Indo-Pacific’, ‘Asia’, ‘the West’, ‘Oceania’, and ‘not part of anywhere’ — and asked to select up to three where Australia belonged. The majority (62%) select Oceania. A sizeable minority (38%) select the Indo-Pacific. One in three (32%) say Australia belongs to the West, while just 21% say Australia belongs to Asia. One in ten Australians (11%) says Australia is ‘not part of anywhere’.

Australian foreign policy
Australia's place in the world

Question

Which of the following regions do you think Australia belongs to?

This question was last asked in 2021.

0%
25%
50%
75%
100%

2010

2021

Dashed line indicates change in mode: see Methodology.